29 October 2015

a little sky blue volkswagen bug I pass on my way to pick ezra up from school. mostly, this is not a town of volkswagen bug lovers. or, small car lovers, for that matter. this is a town of big car lovers, giant car lovers, multiple car lovers. which is probably why the sight of this guy each day makes me so happy. it fills me with hope.

amsterdam, right:

a vintage fiat 500, crazy popular in amsterdam because they're so tiny and easy to park. and cute. oh my goodness, cute, the very definition of cute. go ahead, look it up in the dictionary. under the word 'cute', you will find this car.

(more from my co-collaborator over in amsterdam, joyce, aka on a hazy morning//more about our twelve-week project here)

23 October 2015

when I see that patch of tall, yellow, spindly sunflowers start to bloom here in georgia, I know. fall is here. fall, season of butterscotch-colored leaves and indian summer afternoons. in-between weather so perfect you wish it would stay forever and ever, amen.

amsterdam, right:

there's not a lot of space in amsterdam. people are packed in there quite nicely, or so I've heard. and so they do what they can to plant colorful flowers in the space that they have. sometimes that means a patch of a little something growing alongside the pavement, where folks often live in what's known as souterrains. souterrains, a perfectly lovely french word meaning 'basement'. leave it to the french to make basement living sound lovely. and leave it to the dutch to make a patch of concrete a beautiful, beautiful thing.

15 October 2015

the old clermont hotel: seedy, unyielding. permanently fixed along one of the city's most beloved arteries, ponce de leon avenue. ponce, we call it. I'm certain it was something back in the day, before the drug addicts and the prostitutes got to it. you can almost see people in black felt hats and shiny shoes coming and going. it sits empty now, save for the infamous clermont lounge housed in the back. broken windows like missing teeth, paint chipped and peeling, construction signs on the marquee. the place sits and it waits. for the inevitable boutique hotel makeover. when we were first married back in 1994, we lived in an old apartment building behind the clermont and for six years, we watched the comings and goings, for six years, we collected the stories. the old clermont became a fixture in our lives, too. like that great uncle, you know the one-- mostly sour around the edges but with eyes that twinkle, sort of, if you look really hard.

amsterdam, right:

a beautiful arrow from the streets of amsterdam, story unknown. which, sometimes, is even better because then you can make up your own.

(more from joyce's point of view over at on a hazy morning//more about our twelve-week collaboration here)

12 October 2015

I'll tell you, there are more than a few reasons to be excited about this week. but more about all that business later. in the meantime, hop on over to fall 'roidweek on ye olde flickr because, you guys. that's where the real polaroid party is.

08 October 2015

we are not known for our bikes here in this town. we are a city that loves our cars. we do not love our traffic, we curse our many highways but we will not give up our cars. and I really wish we would because bikes are nice, bikes are nicer, bikes are nicest.

amsterdam, right:

city of bikes, teeming with bikes, busting at the seams with bikes. in fact, joyce told me there are roughly 900,000 bikes in amsterdam, that there are actually more bikes than inhabitants. well, we do not have 900,000 bikes in atlanta. but I bet we have 900,000 cars.

01 October 2015

a fried peach pie from the varsity, still warm in the bag, sounds of the streets all around us, north avenue to the right, the big downtown connector off in the distance. the sounds of folks coming and going, swinging those front doors open, bits and pieces of that old varsity chorus wafting out, what'll ya have what'll ya have what'll ya have, a chorus cashiers have surely been singing out since the restaurant first opened back in 1928.

amsterdam, right:

joyce's norwegian cinnamon rolls and can't you almost smell them? because I can. straight from a cozy kitchen in amsterdam, which I imagine be filled with a lovely light, a clean light, the kind of light I like to think only exists in amsterdam. am I wrong? I do not think I am wrong.